Comic Con heroes greeted by superfans

SAN ANGELO–By day, he's an ordinary business man; however at night, particularly when it comes to cosplay and Comic Con conventions, he's to quote a superhero's introduction of self, "I'm Batman!"

Dan Smart, alias, Batman, his son, Thomas, wife, Shawna, eight other staff members, and a plethora of science fiction and fantasy characters were all greeted by their loyal superfans at this weekend's three day 1st Annual, Comic Con Convention held at the Foster Communications Coliseum.

Smart's son, Thomas came as Superman, Shawna was Cat Woman while one other staff member dressed up as Robin. Smart's Bat Mobile on display was actually his wife, Shawna's, 2008 Chevrolet C 6 Corvette equipped with mini guns, the fins and Bat insignia.

Among female characters dressed in cosplay was a college student, Catarina Ponce. Ponce came dressed as the male version of the Mad Hatter from the Walt Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland.

The other female superhero, was Missy Rangel, alias, Wasp, a Marvel Comic book super hero. Rangel was asked why she was particularly interested in portraying this fantasy character, who is the partner to Ant Man, a Marvel movie made in 2015. "I just really identify with Wasp, she's really intelligent, and at the same time beautiful," Rangel said.

The CC convention, held in the convention hall of the Coliseum, was the place where Conexión caught up with Event Director, Chris Slatosch, who mentioned that Friday's attendance at that point was only 125. But Slatosch, assisted by his wife, Casey and local volunteers, was encouraged by Saturday's increase in attendance and expected 3,000 by the end of the event.

Superfans, who probably felt like they were at a Halloween party, spotted other science fiction and fantasy characters: Batman's nemesis, the Joker, portrayed by Coldwell Banker, Realtor, Robert Pittman, Power Rangers, Captain Hook; Janna Chambers portrayed two characters--Alice in Wonderland and Batgirl, Dead Pool,'s character was done by two individuals: Chance Bower and Curtis Taylor; there was also Hatsune Miku, J.L. Newman was alias, Invyasha and from Walt Disney's--Frozen, the female character, Elsa.

One little superfan, was Savannah Puentes' five-year-old,son, Anthony, who came dressed as Clark Kent. But once he opened his shirt, underneath it, he revealed the Superman insignia.